Tattoo
by formerflautist
Summary: Sean comes back to Degrassi. This story was written around spoilers for season 6. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

His tattoo was itching again. He'd had the thing for a year and a half and it had healed very well. Except that sometimes for some reason it would itch. Sometimes it was just a mild irritation, like now. Other times the thing felt like it was on fire. Well, that had only happened once a few months ago. The searing pain that lasted for twenty minutes and then a constant burn for a week after had made him want to get the damn thing lasered off. But he couldn't do it. He wasn't ready to let that part of his life go.

"Just my luck," Sean thought as he absently itched his tattoo. There was Liberty standing on the front steps of the school. He liked Liberty but she would probably want to rope him into a conversation about why he was back at Degrassi. Just behind Liberty was Emma and she looked to be arguing with the blonde kid standing next to her.

His tattoo itched a little more as Emma said something to the kid and then stormed away. She looked pretty pissed. Now probably wasn't the best time to introduce his presence. He wasn't really sure who would be happy to see him anyway. He probably made a few people angry after his disappearing act after the shooting. And many of his old friends had graduated anyway. Like Ellie and Alex. Jay was probably still there harassing underclassmen for sport.

The coast looked clear. Sean got out his car and quickly headed up the steps but didn't get more than a few feet before he heard someone call his name.

"Sean Cameron?"

Sean slowly turned around, dreading whom he might see. His dread quickly turned to surprise when he saw Jimmy in a wheelchair.

"Jimmy, wow, it's… it's been awhile."

"Yeah, you haven't seen me since the shooting."

"Yeah, it's kinda strange seeing you in that thing," Sean said, indicating the wheelchair.

"Tell me about it. It's much more strange to be in it. So are you back at Degrassi?" Jimmy asked as he wheeled toward the wheelchair ramp.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess. You didn't graduate?"

"Nah, too much time out. It sucks but I couldn't change it so I'm just dealing."

"Good thing he's in good company," Spinner said, coming up from behind him. "We're old men in this school now. I'm just waiting for a freshman to give me money to buy beer."

"And then you're going to steal his money for yourself," Sean said as he gave Spin a nudge with his shoulder.

"Nah, man," Jimmy said with a laugh. "Spinner is a reformed man. He's going to give the kid back his money and then lecture him on the error of his ways."

"Really?"

"Well, I might still take his money but I'll donate it to charity or something."

"Fair enough," said Sean. "I need to get to the office. See you guys later."

Sean had been back in town for a couple of weeks. Earlier in the summer he had decided he wanted to graduate from Degrassi. So he'd arranged to go back on student welfare, got an apartment, and enrolled back in school. All he needed to do was pick up his schedule and he would be ready to officially start school.

Emma sat in the back of Snake's classroom hunched over and angrily tapping her fingers on the table. After her fight with Peter this morning she was hardly in the mood to talk to anyone. This year Degrassi had the brilliant idea of mixing up the different grades in the homerooms. It was supposed to encourage "friendship and community." All it really did was make a lot of people angry that they weren't in the same homeroom as their friends. It also meant that most of the people in Emma's homeroom were underclassmen and none of them were her friends.

"Good morning, class. Welcome to Degrassi Community School. Or welcome back as the case may be for some of you." Snake said with a smile.

Emma didn't listen as Snake rattled happily on. She'd had his homeroom enough years to know the speech he made at the beginning of every school year. She instead reflected on the fight she'd had with Peter that morning. He'd been giving her the third degree about what she'd been eating and Emma had gotten sick of it. She was tired of everyone watching everything she'd put in her mouth. She was working on getting better but she was frustrated and tired of being bothered. Emma heard it from her parents and from Manny, she didn't need it from her boyfriend, too.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Simpson."

Emma glanced up at the sound of a familiar voice and her eyes widened in surprise as Sean entered the room.

"Ah, Mr. Cameron, welcome back to Degrassi. Take a seat anywhere."

"Thanks, Mr. Simpson," Sean said with a grateful smile as he headed towards the back of the room.

Emma's head popped up to get a better look. Sean spotted Emma and smiled at the look on her face. He quickly made his way back to the empty spot beside her.

"Hi," he whispered.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Emma whispered in reply.

"I moved back to town. I wanted to graduate with my friends. We can talk during lunch," Sean said as he noticed Mr. Simpson giving them the evil eye.

"Sure," Emma agreed but was quickly filled with dread. Everyone would be there watching her eat. Peter would probably want to re-hash the argument from this morning and then Sean would find out about her eating disorder.

"Manny told me to tell you that something came up with the Spirit Squad and she needed to deal with that," Toby informed her at lunch. Toby and JT were there but neither Sean nor Peter had made an appearance yet.

"That's not important, Toby. The big news is that Sean Cameron is back at Degrassi. In fact he's in this room right now heading straight towards us. What do we do?" Asked JT in a panicked voice.

"Saying hello is usually the proper way to greet someone," Sean said as he came up on the tail end of JT's announcement.

"Right. I mean hello."

"Good to see you haven't changed," Sean said with a grin. "Toby, how's it going?"

"Not bad. Welcome back."

"Thanks," Sean said as he sat down in the free seat next to Emma.

"Sorry I'm late," Peter said as he came running up. "My mom wanted to talk to me."

Peter looked and saw there was a guy sitting next to Emma. Confusion immediately streaked across his face. "Uh, hi, I'm Peter," he said to Sean.

"Sean Cameron," Sean replied as he stood and reached his hand out.

"Oh, you're that Sean." Peter said as he shook Sean's hand.

"Umm, maybe." Sean said. He wasn't sure if Peter was referring to the shooting or to the fact that he was Emma's ex-boyfriend.

"Peter is Ms. Hatzilakos's son," Emma quickly said.

"And Emma's boyfriend."

It was the latter Sean quickly surmised from Peter's comment. "Okay, nice to meet you."

"Yeah. So Emma do you want to go for a drive in my new car after school?"

"Hey, when are the rest of us going to get a ride in the new car?" JT interjected.

"What kind of car is it?" Sean asked.

Emma tuned out as the boys got into a long discussion about cars.

"So do you want to come, Emma?"

"Hmm, what?"

"Finish your lunch," Peter told her as he looked at her half-eaten sandwich.

Emma looked at him angrily before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Sean absently scratched his tattoo as he listened the exchange between Peter and Emma.

"Thank you. Now, do you want to come with me this afternoon? Sean knows a guy who can put some modifications on my car. It's going to be a street racer."

"Street racing? Peter, is this a good idea?"

"It's harmless. Just come with me, it'll be fun."

"Sure, I guess."

"Great!"

The bell rang and everyone quickly scattered to their respective classes.

Sean had managed to escape any unwelcome attention the rest of the day. He really just wanted to make it through his senior year without any major problems so that he could graduate. He was at his locker putting his books away when a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Oh my gosh! Sean, is it really you?"

Sean turned around to see the smiling face of Manny Santos.

"Yep, it's me," he replied with a self-conscious grin.

"Wow. I mean I knew you were back but I just haven't had a chance to talk to you yet. So how are you? When did you get back? Are you staying in Degrassi? Have you talked to Emma?

"Umm, good. A couple of weeks ago. Yes. And yes. We ate lunch together. Now I'm going to meet Emma and Peter. We're going to get some modifications installed on his car."

"Modifications? Sean, what you doing?"

"Manny, relax, everything is cool."

"Emma's had a tough year. She doesn't need anything else to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"I really shouldn't say anything," Manny trailed off.

"You're not going to tell me?" Sean asked as he wondered what had been happening with Emma.

"I can't. But you should realize that Emma's happy now. Don't mess with that."

"I'm not going to do anything to hurt Emma."

"I hope that's true. I need to get to practice. I'll see you later." Manny rushed down the hallway and Sean headed out to his car to meet Emma and Peter.

"So this is the place," Peter said as they pulled up outside an old building. "Do you want to come in?"

Emma looked at the dingy building and quickly decided she wasn't going to step one foot in that place. "It's a nice day, I think I'll just stay out here."

Emma pulled her knitting out of her bag as Sean and Peter entered the building. She'd taken up knitting this past summer. Her father seemed to find it soothing so Emma tried it. It worked. Emma got it out whenever she felt bored or stressed. So far she'd only managed a scarf and a small blanket for Jack but she was getting better.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Emma smiled at the questioning look on Sean's face. "I'm knitting. It's very relaxing."

"Are you stressed out?"

Emma sighed. She didn't want Sean to know about her eating disorder but he was going to find out anyway. It would be better if he heard it from her instead of from some gossip-monger. "I have anorexia. This helps keep my mind off of food. Or rather my obsession with not eating it."

"Wow."

"A lot has changed since you've been gone."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm getting better."

"Good." Sean stared at Emma, trying to reconcile the young woman before him who had been through so much with the sweet girl who had stolen his heart.

"Thanks for not asking questions."

"If you want to talk about it then I'm here but if you don't then I won't pry."

"What are you staring at?"

"Sorry. I was just remembering you when you were younger."

Emma cringed as an image of she and Sean at her mother's wedding. "Please stop. I keep seeing you and I at my mother's wedding. My hair was a wreck."

"You were cute. And you kissed me." Sean said with a wink.

"I did not," Emma protested with a laugh. "You kissed me!"

"Okay, maybe I did. What happened to us? We went from a great couple to almost hating each other."

"I didn't hate you. Well, maybe a little. But I was young and you were my first boyfriend. Breaking up sucked. But now we're older and we can be friends."

"So we are friends?"

"Well, yeah."

"Good. I mean I wasn't sure. I know that we were in a good place when I stayed in Wasaga but we weren't really friends before that."

"But you saved my life," Emma reminded him. "Rick pointed that gun and was going to shoot me and you stopped him."

"I had to. I mean, you're _Emma_."

Emma felt heat rush into her face at the way Sean said her name. She looked down so that Sean wouldn't see the heat rising to her face.

"Emma, look at me," Sean demanded as he reached out to touch her face.

"The car's done!"

Sean dropped his hand and quickly turned around to see Peter coming out of the shop.

"Great, let's go." Emma said as she stepped around Sean.

"Sure. So I'll see you tomorrow, Sean?

"Tomorrow?" Emma questioned.

"Yeah, there's a street race." Peter said excitedly

"Is that really a good idea?"

"It's cool, no worries Emma. Right, Sean?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine," Sean said as he reached up to scratch his damn tattoo.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Emma asked the next day at the meeting spot for the street race.

"It's really not a big deal. The road is straight, it's no problem."

"You're not trying to talk him into chickening out, are you Greenpeace?" Jay asked as he and Sean walked up.

Emma rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at the appearance of Jay but said nothing.

"Good. Now why don't you stay back here where you can be safe and sound. Let's go, Loser."

Sean stayed with Emma as Peter and Jay made their way back to their cars. "I'm surprised you came."

"Peter asked me to come."

"This isn't your scene."

"Peter's my boyfriend. I'm trying to be supportive."

"You wouldn't have done this if we were still going out."

"Well we're not still going out," Emma said before walking away to put some distance between the two.

"Emma," Sean started before being drowned out by squealing tires. The race had started.

Emma watched anxiously as the cars went speeding down the street. Peter's had just edged out Jay's when the sound of sirens were heard.

"Come on!" Sean yelled as he grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her towards his car.

"What about Peter?"

"He'll be fine. Get in."

Sean drove away quickly at first but then slowed down to a normal speed as they got farther from the race site.

"I'm sorry about this Emma. I didn't mean for anything to happen," Sean said as they pulled up at Emma's house behind Peter's empty car.

"It wasn't your fault. Peter makes his own decisions."

"It's just I feel like you have this great life and every time I come around I mess things up."

"My life isn't always great. And you don't mess things up. I'm glad you're back and I'm glad we're friends," Emma said as she reached out to grab Sean's hand.

Sean looked down at the hand that Emma was holding and then back up at her face. A red flush had spread across her cheeks. She quickly looked down and tried to pry her hand from Sean's.

"Don't," Sean whispered as he gripped her hand tighter. "Look at me Emma."

Emma lifted her head and Sean quickly leaned his head in to kiss her lips. Emma immediately responded. The kiss lasted for several moments until the ringing of Emma's cell phone brought them back to reality.

"It's Peter," Emma said as she pulled the phone from her purse.

"What are you going to do?"

Emma looked at Sean before pressing the power button and throwing the phone back into her purse. She grabbed Sean's face and brought his lips back to hers.

Emma pulled back after a few moments. "We can't do this. I have a boyfriend and I'm not that kind of girl."

Emma quickly jumped out of the car and ran into her house.

"Hey! Where were you? Is Sean outside? Is he coming in?" Peter asked as soon as Emma entered the house.

"Sean stopped by Jay's to make sure he got away okay," Emma said, the lie rolling easily from her mouth. "But he couldn't stay."

"That sucks. Man, did you see that race? It was awesome…"

Emma sat down next to Peter and worked on trying to focus on what he was saying. But all she could think about was the kiss in the car. It felt like Sean had wanted to devour her. And Emma wanted him to. She wanted to get lost in the kiss forever. But she had a boyfriend. Peter wasn't perfect but he'd been very good to her. She couldn't just dump him over one kiss from her ex. Even if the kiss was very hot and much better than anything she'd ever experienced with Peter.

The next day at school Emma hurriedly put her things in her locker. She had yet to see Sean but she didn't know how to react when she did. Should she be casual and just say the kiss was no big deal? Or should she be honest and let him know how much the kiss affected her but that she was still with Peter?

Emma was so lost in thought that she didn't notice that Sean was standing in front of her until she ran into him. Without saying a word, he dragged her into an empty classroom.

"Sean, what are you doing? We're going to be l-"

Sean closed his mouth over Emma's and effectively silenced her.

"Sorry," he said after the all too brief kiss. "But I needed to do that. I have to make up for lost time."

"Sean," Emma started.

"I have something for you," he interrupted and pulled out a jewelry box. "Here."

"What's this?" Emma asked as she opened the box. Inside were emerald and gold earrings. "They're beautiful but I can't accept them. What would Peter say?"

Sean looked down in disappointment. "Right, it's just that I was hoping that wouldn't be an issue." Sean looked Emma in the eyes. "I know what I want. I'm hoping that you want the same thing."

The bell rang before Emma could answer. "We need to get to class."

Emma managed to avoid Sean and Peter the rest of the day by eating lunch with Snake and hiding in the girl's restroom. Unfortunately Manny did manage to catch her while she was hiding.

"Since you've been hiding all day I thought I would let you know the weather. It's cloudy with a one hundred percent chance of you making out with your ex-boyfriend!"

"What?"

"I saw you yesterday with Sean. Emma, what are you doing?"

"It's nothing. Sean is just a friend."

"Yeah, you always make out with your friends. You're with Peter now. You're happy."

"I'm just trying to work things out."

"I'm just want you to be okay."

"I am okay and I will be okay."

Emma decided to walk home after school. She needed the space to think about all the things going on in her head.

"Emma!"

Emma turned to see Peter driving along beside her in his car.

"Why didn't you meet me after school?"

"I just needed some time to figure things out, Peter."

"What things?"

"Peter, I just need some space."

"You're breaking up with me!"

"I didn't say that! I'm saying that I need a break!"

"This is about Sean, isn't it? You still have a thing for him!"

"This is about us, Peter! I need some time by myself without you. It has nothing to do with Sean."

"Yeah right. You do whatever the hell you want because I'm done with you!"

"Peter!"

Peter's tires squealed as he drove away. Emma didn't want to break up with Peter but he needed to realize that she needed to take a step back from their relationship in order to figure out what she wanted. If he couldn't give her that space then maybe it just wasn't meant to be for the two of them anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night Peter drove to the site of the next street race. He saw Sean and Jay leaning up against Sean's car. He angrily got out of his car and stormed up to them.

"Stay away from Emma!"

"Is this some kind of joke?" Jay asked Sean with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?"

"We broke up today. Don't tell me it doesn't have something to do with you."

"I don't control Emma so I don't know what you're talking about."

"We're going to settle this now!"

"You seriously think you can beat me?"

"Bring it on!"

Sean and Jay jumped into Sean's car and Peter jumped into his. With a wave of an arm the race started. Peter jumped into an early lead but Sean had more experience and soon took over.

"Damn it!" Peter yelled as Sean's car passed his.

Up ahead Peter saw an opportunity to win. A jogger was on the sidewalk. If Peter swerved then it would force Sean to swerve right into the jogger. With a quick tug of the wheel, Peter almost ran into Sean, forcing Sean onto the sidewalk in order to avoid being hit. With a quick screeching of the breaks, the race was over.

"What the hell was that?" Jay yelled as he got out of the car.

"I think I hit something," Sean said shakily.

"You did," Peter said as he went around to the front of the car. "We need to call an ambulance."

"What? No, this can't be happening!" Sean yelled as he saw the person on the ground.

"Get out of here, man," Jay said as he shoved Sean away. "You're eighteen, you could do real time for this. The kid here is only seventeen, he can take responsibility."

"What?"

"It was your idea to race! Go Sean!"

Sean got into his car and left, leaving Peter and Jay to wait for an ambulance.

Emma and her parents were eating dinner when the phone rang. Snake got up to answer it and Emma heard a surprised "What?" before his tone quieted too much for her to hear.

"What's going on?" Spike asked as Snake came back into the room.

"That was Peter's father. Peter is in jail. He and Sean Cameron were street racing when someone was hit. No one knows where Sean is."

"What's going to happen to them?" Emma asked.

"I don't know, Sweetheart, but it doesn't look good.

"May I be excused?"

"Of course."

Emma went down into her room, Peter was in jail and Sean was on the run and Emma didn't know how to take it all in. This was her fault. Peter wanted to race Sean because of her.

"Emma."

She looked up to see Sean coming through her window.

"You have to help me, Emma. I have nowhere else to go."

"The police are looking for you. You need to turn yourself in."

"I don't know what happened. One minute I was racing and the next minute I hit a guy."

"I know. But you can't run. It isn't going to help you ."

"I'm sorry for messing up again."

"Sean-"

"Emma," her mother called down, "the police are here and they want to talk to you."

"You can do this," Emma whispered as she grabbed Sean's hand. "I'm right here with you.

Sean took a deep breath and together he and Emma went up the stairs to face his fate.

Thanks for all the reviews. I really need to make this clear that a lot of my story is based on spoilers and previews for season six. I took some things out and adjusted some things I didn't like. I saw the previews as a good starting point for this story. In the subsequent chapters I'm going to be taking the characters on a different journey then what the spoilers are indicating.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Emma went to visit Sean in jail. He looked miserable in his blue jumpsuit.

"Hi."

"Hi. Are you okay?"

"I'm in jail, what do you think?"

"Can I do anything for you?"

"I've done enough for myself but thanks."

"Please don't be like that."

"Be like what? Like an angry man in jail? Well I am an angry man who's in jail. Please tell me how I'm supposed to act!"

"You're not going to be in here forever. We're going to raise money for you and get you the best lawyer. It's going to be okay."

"Why are you doing this?"

"You saved my life."

"Is that the only reason? This is payback for not letting Rick shoot you? Gee, thanks."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Forget it, Emma. Our time's up."

Emma walked out of the jail, frustrated at her conversation with Sean. He needed her help but he wanted her to admit that she wanted to be with him. But she couldn't do that yet. She just wasn't ready to commit herself to Sean. Their relationship had been good but the break up had been hell. Emma wasn't going to commit herself to Sean until she was sure they were both ready. In the meantime she was going to do everything she could to get Sean out of jail.

Walking back to the car, she received a phone call from Jimmy.

"Jimmy?"

"Emma, I heard about Sean and I'm going to help."

"How?"

"My parents have a lawyer friend who does pro bono work. He's agreed to take the case. And let me tell you, he's one of the best."

"Really, that's great!"

"Yeah. I'm going to bet that his student welfare will be revoked so my parents are going to let Sean stay with us until he can get a job and afford his own place. Plus Spinner and Darcy are working to get donations for his bail. It's only been a few hours but they're doing really well. People really want to help him."

"Thank you so much, Jimmy. You've made my day. I'll meet up with you guys later and help out."

Emma closed her phone and smiled. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest. Sean wasn't free yet but he had so many people pulling for him that there was no way he would be in jail for long.


	4. Chapter 4

Just to preface this, I don't know a whole lot about the law, especially Canadian law, so the punishments might seem light. But since this is fiction I hope you will excuse the errors.

Peter got off with six month's probation. The man that Sean hit asked for leniency because his injuries were not severe. Sean ended up getting his driver's license suspended for one year and three year's probation. Jimmy's parents took him in and were distinctly more strict than his own, which was actually a relief for Sean. For the first time in a long time he had adults in his life whom actually cared. He was more determined than ever to keep his life on track. That meant focusing on his studies and his job and staying away from Emma.

"What's going on with you and Sean?" Manny asked at lunch. Sean had been back in school for a week and there hadn't been so much as a peep from Emma about him.

"There's nothing going on. He's ignoring me."

"How do you feel about that?"

"What am I supposed to do? I can't think about it. If I start thinking about it then I'm afraid that I'll turn back into that person I was when we broke up in ninth."

"Emma, you miss him."

"When did you jump on the Sean bandwagon?"

"I didn't think it was a good idea for you to juggle both Peter and Sean. But you and Peter seem to be done. And I just want you to be happy."

"I know. But I can't force him to talk to me."

"Why not?"

"Just drop it, Manny."

"Fine. But don't come crying to me when you realize that you've lost him for good."

Sean was in shop class after school. His new job was working at the school organizing parts and cleaning up at the end of the day. It wasn't the most glamorous job but it kept him at school and out of trouble.

"Hey Sean," Alex said as she entered the shop.

"Hey, what's up? Car problems?"

"You know that Jay can help me if I have any car issues."

"Yeah, but I'm better."

"There's a party this weekend."

"You know I can't.

"It's your celebration for getting out of jail."

"Yeah, and if I go to that party then I'll get thrown back into jail."

"You need to have some fun. Meet some new girls, have a drink or two, and just relax."

"Then I'm definitely not interested."

"In which part? Please don't tell me you're not interested in meeting new girls. Don't tell me you're still hung up on Ellie."

"This isn't about Ellie."

"Please don't tell me you're hung up on Saint Emma."

"Don't speak about her like that!"

"I don't know what you see in her. She's not even such a saint anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you ask her? Or maybe you should ask Jay. Ask about the ravine. Ask Emma what she was doing down there with my boyfriend!"

"Emma's not like that."

"Then go and ask her. See what she says."

Sean stormed past Alex and ran down the street to Emma's house and knocked on the door.

Emma answered the door. "Sean, what are you doing here?"

"Are you alone?"

"Yeah, why?"

"When need to talk," he replied as he slipped past Emma and into the house.

"What's going on?"

"What happened at the ravine?"

Emma's blood ran cold. "Who told you about that?"

"Just tell me isn't true!"

"I can't!"

"Why would you go down there?"

"Who are you to come here and ask me about it?"

"I'm nobody, just the guy who loves you!"

"Which you've made perfectly clear the past week. It's as if I don't exist to you!"

"You don't want to be with me and that kills me!"

"I don't want to be your girlfriend, yet. But that isn't forever! The last time we broke up it ripped my heart out! I turned into someone I didn't like very much. It happened again after the shooting when you left. I felt my life spinning out of control and you weren't there anymore! Yes, I went to the ravine and yes, I hooked up with Jay! I don't always react very well when something involves you! But you don't get to judge my actions!"

Sean was stunned into silence. Emma was right. Who was he to judge her?

"Emma…"

"Leave."

"I'm sorry."

"I know," she whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

"Why did you do it?" Sean yelled as he barged into Jay's place.

"What the hell are you yelling about?" Jay asked as he tried to clear his head. He'd been having a nice nap until Sean barged in.

"You and Emma in the ravine! Why?"

"Relax, Buddy. We didn't have sex, it was just blowjobs and it wasn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal? You took advantage of her when she was vulnerable!"

"She went down there on her own! I didn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do!"

"And you couldn't say no, could you? Valiant Jay doing Emma a favor! Some favor, you gave her an STD!"

"And she's fine now! Man, where the hell do you get off coming over here and yelling about Emma? She's not your girlfriend and she wasn't your girlfriend then!"

"But she was my ex-girlfriend and you knew that! You always thought she was so pure and innocent. You weren't going to pass up the chance to take that away, even if it meant messing with a friend's ex. You just don't do that."

"Are you after her again? That's what this is about. You didn't give a tinker's damn about her after you two broke up. Now you're back and Emma's looking good and you decide you want her all to yourself. Gotta make sure that no one's going to get in the way. Peter's out the picture and now you've got to make sure I'll stay away, too. Don't worry, man, she's damaged goods, you can have her."

Sean clenched his fists together. He wanted to hit Jay so badly. But it wouldn't solve anything. And Jay might decide to be an even bigger jerk and press charges. So he held his rage inside.

"The only damaged goods that I know is the person I see before me. Stay away from Emma." Sean turned and left the apartment, taking deep breaths and he went to his car. Jay was truly scum and not worth a minute more of his time or thoughts.

Two whole months and nothing, not a word and barely a glance from Emma. She knew how to hold a grudge better than anyone. Sean was going crazy. Okay, he knew he was wrong about the Jay thing. He'd tried apologizing a thousand times. He'd even sent flowers but she sent those back. But at least Jimmy's mom appreciated them.

"Please don't tell me you're thinking about Emma again," Jimmy said as he wheeled into Sean's room.

"Me? No, I was just thinking about… Damn it, she's got me so twisted that I can't even think of a good lie."

"I know the feeling. But we're not going to think about girls today. My mom wants you in the living room right now. It's Christmas tree decoration time and the whole family has to participate."

"I'm not a member of the family."

"Of course you are," Jimmy said with a serious look. "You're the daughter she never had."

"Jerk," Sean said as he followed a laughing Jimmy out to the living room.

"You know the best part about Christmas?" Manny asked as she put finishing touches on her Christmas cookies.

"The presents, of course." Emma replied as she snuck one of Manny's cookies to Jack.

"No, it's the season for forgiveness. Maybe it's something you could try."

"Manny"

"Don't Manny me. That boy would walk on water for you. He made a mistake. You've made plenty. Isn't it time you tried to just let it go?"

"It is. I know it is. I'm just afraid that every time he sees me he's going to see me at the ravine."

"That's not what he sees. If he did see that then he wouldn't still want to be with you. Sean sees Emma, the real Emma. She makes mistakes but she's got a good heart. I know you're scared of getting hurt again but you need to stop thinking that way. If you two aren't meant to be then you'll stick it. But you'll never know if you don't try."

"You're right. I know you're right. I need to go see Sean."

Emma runs out and jumps into Snake's old beater to head over to Jimmy's house. The snow was falling heavily but Emma didn't care, she needed to get to Sean.

"Sean, would you like to put the angel on top of the tree?"

"Sure, Mrs. Brooks," Sean said as he took the angel she held out to him. As he was placing the angel on top of the tree his tattoo started to itch again. He looked at the angel and then had a flash of Emma go through his brain. He needed to get to her.

"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, but there's something I need to take care of." Sean said as he grabbed his coat from the closet.

"What's going on?" Jimmy asked.

"I just have this feeling that Emma needs me."

"You're driving yourself crazy."

"I'm serious. I'll be back later."

Sean was driving as fast as the snow would allow him when he saw a car on the opposite side of the street lose control. Fire lanced through his tattoo and Sean knew that Emma was in that car. But there was nothing he could do as he watched the car spin around before crashing into a tree.

"Call an ambulance!" Sean yelled to a man who had stopped his car.

"Emma, can you hear me?" Sean asked as he opened the door. He wanted to cry as he saw Emma slumped over the wheel. He couldn't see her face and he was afraid to move her in case she had neck injuries.

"Emma, you have to talk to me."

"Sean?

"Yeah, Em, it's me. How do you feel?"

Emma weakly lifted her head. There was a gash on her forehead but no other noticeable injuries. "My head hurts."

"Your head hit the steering wheel. You've got a cut on your forehead. Just relax." Sean said as he took out a handkerchief and placed it against Emma's head. "An ambulance is coming. You're going to be fine."

"I'm glad you're here."

"What were you doing out in this weather?"

"I needed to see you."

"Emma..."

"We can take of it from here, son," an EMT said as he pushed Sean out of the way.

Sean watched helplessly as the EMTs worked on Emma. She HAD to be okay. She just had to be. His world wouldn't be right if Emma wasn't in it.


	6. Chapter 6

Sean wished he were the type of person who hated hospitals. People who hated hospitals always had a way of removing themselves from the moment. They could focus on the lights or the smell or the quiet voices of the people around them. But Sean saw hospitals for what they were: places to help sick people. Therefore he couldn't focus on anything but Emma. They had whisked her away as soon as they got there and Sean had been sitting in a plastic chair, waiting and worrying.

"Sean!" Emma's mother and father rushed into the emergency room looking frazzled and worried. "Where is she?"

"They took her through those doors," he said, pointing to the doors on the far side of the room. "No one has told me anything."

"I'll go find out," Snake said as he headed towards the doors. "Stay here with Sean."

"What happened?" Spike asked. "You didn't say much on the phone."

"It was the snow. She lost control and she ran into a tree. She hit her head on the steering wheel. But she was talking to me. That's a good sign, right?"

"Good news," Snake said as he came up to them. "Emma's going to be okay. She has a minor concussion and a cut on her forehead that needs to be stitched up. She'll have to stay at the hospital overnight for observation but she doesn't have any other injuries. They're going to be moving her upstairs and after that she can have visitors."

"Thank goodness," Spike breathed as she hugged Snake.

Sean felt relief wash over him and tears in the corners of his eyes. Emma was going to be okay. That was more important than anything else.

"And Sean," Spike said tearfully as she turned to hug him. "Thank you for being there and helping her."

Sean nervously went into Emma's room. The Simpsons had been in there forever and they finally told him it was his turn. They needed to go home so that Snake could relieve Manny of her babysitting duties and Spike could bring Manny back to the hospital. So Sean and Emma were left completely alone.

"Hi," Sean said quietly as he entered the room. Emma was in a hospital gown, looking pale and bruised. Sean felt the tears threaten again. He never wanted to see her in that position.

"I'm sorry," Emma said as tears started to roll down her face.

"Shh, it's okay," Sean said as he grabbed Emma's hand and sat down by the bed. "The snow was heavy and anyone could have had that accident."

"No, I mean I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you. I let my anger get the better of me. I don't want to be one of those people who can't forgive. I was coming to see you to tell you that."

"You were coming to see me? I was going to see you. That's why I was there when you had the accident. I knew something was wrong and I had to get to you."

"You saved me, again."

"I had to, you're Emma."

"What do you mean when you say that?"

"You were the first person who really cared for me. You believed in me and you made me want to be a better person. I can't repay that no matter how many times I might have to step in and save you."

"I didn't know I was that important to you."

"You are. I want to show you something. I got this after I left." Sean said as he pulled his undershirt down to show Emma the tattoo on his chest.

"What does it mean?"

"It's the Chinese symbol for faith. I wanted something to remind me what you taught me: to have a little faith in myself and in other people. But it's taken on a more important meaning: faith in us, faith that we can make it through anything, and faith that we're going to be together." Sean omitted that he also knew he could feel her emotions through the tattoo. That one would be his little secret.

"I don't know what to say. I'm just happy you didn't give up. But we can't be together yet."

"What?"

"Not until you kiss me."

Sean gave a relieved grin before leaning down and kissing Emma softly on the mouth.

"And I want to let you know that I'm not going to be afraid anymore. Whatever happens with us is going to happen. If I keep living in fear of being with you then I'm not going to be able to live my life."

"So I can call you my girlfriend again?"

"Only if I get to call you my boyfriend. And if you'll post fliers about the slaughter of baby seals."

"I can't wait." Sean reached up to touch his tattoo. It was cool and tingly, something he'd never felt before. But then he realized that it meant that Emma was happy. He knew that Emma was truly happy. Sean loved his tattoo.

_The story is over. Thanks for reading. I do have an idea in my head for a sequel. I hope everything made sense. Scenarios sometimes make sense to me in my head but not to everyone else. Again, thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review._


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